For all the American football fans out there who thought I was going to discuss the Green Bay Packers, or the New York Giants, or even the lowly St. Louis Rams, sorry. I think the title has misled you a bit. Not to say I don't like football, but the only NFC team worth rooting for is the 49'ers, and they follow most of the AFC in my hierarchy. I guess I have a bit of a bias after growing up in Denver, with relatives in San Diego. But I digress.

The NFC I am rooting for is Near Field Communications. Using NFC is how I envision a scene that played out in my head when I was reading an Alan Dean Foster novel many years ago (I think the novel was Orphan Star, but it was a long time ago). In that book, two people have decided to perform a financial transaction. One person checked his balance on a card he was carrying, saw there was enough and made the transfer to the second person. All without need of a physical transfer of fungible items.

For the most part, we are there with the ability to transfer money between Paypal accounts from a smart phone. What will get us completely there, would be the addition of NFC (and biometrics, but I'll get to that). With NFC enabled on my (and my transaction partner's) phones, a financial transaction could simply be a process of tapping out the amount to transfer, putting the two phones in close (a few centimeters) proximity, and allowing the process to happen. Why NFC is integral is that it doesn't work for distances beyond a few centimeters (approximately an inch). This significantly reduces the potential for data theft that can occur via the Bluetooth technology (both using RFID signals). Android phones already are implementing NFC technology, but iPhones are not; they are thought to be doing so this fall with the phone following the 4S. At that point, all that's needed is the Paypal app that can implement it. I do realize that Google Wallet is already possibly implementing NFC, but who uses it in comparison to Paypal?

Now let's really take it to the next - and I believe attainable - level. Instead of a lame 4-digit code to unlock the phone, make it biometric and seamless. My hand grabs my phone, and it recognizes that it is me and completely unlocks it. Someone else? Well, there can be various levels of access. For example, my kids would get to play some games, maybe see some photos. Someone other than me that tries to access it multiple times without me unlocking it, the phone shuts down. Heck, add in an automatic call as stolen and reveal its location, and/or scrubs all contents. Secure and safe. Am I OK with my data scrubbed? Yes, because I back up my stuff... do you?

While I am at it, there needs to be increased durability. Exiting smart phones are still too fragile. Gorilla glass, for all its strength and scratch resistance, can't take a fall. I have high hopes for Liquidmetal that is rumored to be in consideration for the next generation of phones.

I want something as durable as a credit card, with biometric recognition, NFC data transfer, and self charging either through PV or kinetic recapture. I'm not asking for much. Oh, and I want it when my current iPhone 4S is in need of replacement. Sound good?

Holy crap. I always knew that using smart phones (Android, iPhones, etc.) can be potentially a problem for anyone who wanted to keep a reasonable modicum of privacy. Then I saw this, and the words "can be potentially" were replaced with "is definitely."

Though I haven't specifically found any references to CIQ on iPhones, do I believe there is something similar? <Puts on tinfoil hat> Probably.I am stunned by the duplicity and disingenuousness of the perpetrators of the data mining, especially Carrier IQ. Gotta love the quickly generated video of Carrier IQ's CEO standing in his office in shirt sleeves, all "regular guy" claiming--falsely—that their software doesn't capture keystrokes, when it very clearly does as the above video demonstrates. I really found it interesting his eyes kept flicking away from the camera. Isn't that a "tell" of someone lying? Also by taking the low road and attacking Trevor Eckhart (the person who discovered the data mining) by threatening legal action certainly torches any confidence you might have had in the eyes of public opinion. CarrierIQ: definitely evil.

Google? Well, I'd have to put you in the evil camp, too. Sorry guys, but I find it impossible that you don't know what is going on and it's a load of crap. You're infringing on the privacy of every Android phone user, and if the government doesn't step in and do something to slow it, then we will all know that the mining was done either at the explicit instruction of the boys in Washington, or with the sly wink and nod, knowing they get to root through the goodies whenever they want.